Knitting method

ABSTRACT

A method of knitting a sleeved garment on a knitting machine, the method including the steps of knitting a shoulder portion of each sleeve, in the direction towards the upper end of the sleeve, in reciprocatory manner on both beds of a pair of opposed beds of the machine so that pieces of the shoulder region on the two beds are joined together at an edge of the sleeve which is outermost in the finished garment, knitting the body of the garment commencing at the lower end and knitting front and rear upper body portions of the garment as flat fabric on different beds of a pair of opposed beds of the machine and joining the front and rear upper body portions to the shoulder portions of the sleeves, or vice versa, during knitting on the machine. A knitting machine for carrying out the method is also claimed.

United States Patent Betts et al.

[ 51 Jan.25, 1972 [s41 KNITTING METHOD [72] lnventors: Max William Betts, Coventry; Frank Robinson, Borrowash, both of England [73] Assignee: Courtaulds Limited, London, England 22 Filed: July 17, 1969 [21] Appl. No.: 842,505

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 22, 1968 Great Britain ..34,853/68 Primary ExaminerRonald Feldbaum AttorneyDavis, Hoxie, Faithful] & Hapgood [5 7] ABSTRACT A method of knitting a sleeved garment on a knitting machine. the method including the steps of knitting a shoulder portion of each sleeve, in the direction towards the upper end of the sleeve, in reciprocatory manner on both beds of a pair of opposed beds of the machine so that pieces of the shoulder region on the two' beds are joined together at an edge of the sleeve which is outermost in the finished garment, knitting the body of the garment commencing at the lower end and knitting front and rear upper body portions of the garment as flat fabric on different beds of a pair of opposed beds of the machine and joining the front and rear upper body portions to the shoulder portions of the sleeves, or vice versa, during knitting on the machine. A knitting machine for carrying out the method is also claimed.

12 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures mamenmslazz 3536733 SHEET 1 BF 2 -1|||muummmmummummlmmm FIG. 1

214, 22 23 BTU/7:? w liliii illlil A E 9 f @6679 2 F, G venlor MAX WILLIAM BETTS and FRANK ROgINSON Davis, Hoxie, Faithfull 8c Hapgood Attorney needle beds, a reciprocating head with cam tracks to.

cooperate with the butts of needles slidably mounted in grooves or tricks in the needle beds for operating the needles independently of each other, and a plurality of yarn carriers to supply yarn for the production of knitted loops of yarn on needles which are operated by the reciprocating head for the pur- Flat bar knitting machines with opposed needle beds are well known and a description of flat bar V-bed machines is given, for example, in the Dubied Knitting Manual published in 1967 by Edouard Dubied & Cie., of Neufchatel,

Switzerland. The Manual describes mechanisms to manipulate and shift needle beds, yarn feed control mechanisms, loop transfer mechanisms and needle selection mechanisms, all of which are available on knitting machines currently in commercial production. 2

By the term sleeved garment we mean a garment comprising two sleeves and a body, each sleeve comprising a shoulder portion joined to an upper portion of the body from an underarm region of the body to the upper end of the body.

There are two commonly used methods of producing .25

sleeved garments in knitted fabric. In one of these methods flat or tubular knitted fabric is simply cut into suitably shaped body portions and sleeves which are then secured together to form the garment, usually by stitching. 1n the other method the component body portions and sleeves are knitted to the shapes required by suitable increase or decrease of the numbers of stitches in the various courses-the process known as fashioning"cy--and then again the edges are secured together, usually by stitching.

In both these methods it is necessary to employ skilled labor for making up the garments by securing together the edges of the shaped body portions and sleeves. In particular it is an especially difficult operation to secure the sleeves to the body of a sleeved garment, so that in the finished garment the sleeves are accurately oriented with respect to the armholes in the body and dispowd at the correct angle with respect to the body. Moreover, the seams produced are sometimes unsightly, and seam failure is a common cause of complaint with such garments, either due to inefficient seaming or due to the weakness of the seam causing it to burst during wear, Also, in the first-mentioned process, a considerable quantity of fabric is usually cut to waste.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method of making a knitted sleeve garment which considerably reduces the amount of making up required to finish the garment compared with hitherto known methods of making such garments.

According to the invention a method of knitting a sleeved garment on a knitting machine includes the steps of knitting a shoulder portion of each sleeve, in the direction towards the upper end of the sleeve, in reciprocatory manner on both beds of a pair of opposed beds of the machine so that pieces of the shoulder region on the two beds are joined together at an edge of the sleeve which is outermost in the finished garment,

knitting the body of the garment commencing at the lower end and knitting front and rear upper body portions of the garment as fiat fabric on different beds of a pair of opposed beds of the machine and joining the front and rear upper body portions to the shoulder portions of the sleeves, or vice versa, during knitting on the machine.

The invention can be carried out on a flat bar knitting machine which comprises a pair of opposed needle beds for knitting the body of a garment, at least one pair of opposed needle beds which are separate from and slidable with respect to the first-mentioned pair of beds for knitting the two sleeves of a garment, means for transferring stitches between needles of the said slidable needle beds and needles of the said firstmentioned pair of beds, and yarn carriers arranged to supply yarn for the knitting of two sleeves and a body for the garment using separate yams.

A flat bar V-bed knitting machine having two pairs of needle beds (which we will refer to as auxiliary beds") mounted so that each pair defines an inverted V shape above the beds which are ordinarily present on a flat bar V-bed machine (which we will refer to as the "main" beds) is manufactured by the aforesaid Edouard Dubied & Cie. This machine, which is known as the Dubied DFF machine, is described in the aforesaid Dubied Knitting Manual." The DFF machine has auxiliary beds intended for the knitting of narrow selvage strips along the edges of a fabric. Miniature garments (e.g., for dolls) can be knitted on the machine according to the process of the invention, without change. The knitting of full size garments necessitates a few rather elementary modifications of the machineQSpecifically, the DFF auxiliary beds carry only sufficient needles to knit the loops of a narrow border of a garment, for example, fifteen needles. To provide for manufacture of full size garments the auxiliary 15 of the DFF machine are enlarged.

The main beds of the DubiedDFF machine contain needles, each having a slot to receive the hook of an opposite needle so that a loop can be transferred from a slotted needle to the opposite needle. These needles also have a cranked configuration which avoids shogging or racking (i.e., lateral movement) of the beds to obtain the required needle alignment. Providing such needles and associated cam means for the auxiliary beds makes it possible to transfer stitches automatically between the main and auxiliary beds.

in the DFF machine, the auxiliary beds are pivoted on a transverse bar so that they can be swung to lift the needles clear of the knock-over bits of the main beds during lateral movement. Lateral movement, to effect narrowing, is accomplished by means of a pawl on the cam carriage, and may be carried out to the extent of almost half the length of the main beds, for each pair of auxiliary beds.

It will be understood that the DFF machine and its components are simply exemplary of machines and mechanisms which may be used to practice the invention and that the invention, which is concerned with a method of knitting a garment or substantial part thereof in one integral piece by a new sequence of knitting steps, may be performed on machines of other manufacture. v

Since, by the method according to the. invention, the sleeves are joined to the body during knitting of the garment, the difficult operation of directly orienting the sleeves in relation to the body during the final making up of the garment is entirely eliminated.

In knitting a garment in accordance with one embodiment of the method of the invention, knitting commences at the lower ends of the body and sleeves and the first stage of the method involves knitting the sleeves and the body up to the underarm region, these three items being knitted as separate tubular fabrics on the needles of opposed beds of the machine; Knitting of the body is then discontinued and knitting of each sleeve is continued by reciprocatory knitting of its shoulder portion on needles of the pair of beds on which knitting of the sleeve commenced, in each shoulder portion the pieces of fabric knitted on the two beds being joined together at the edge of the sleeve which is outermost on the machine and this edge will be outermost in the finished garment. During'this knitting of the shoulder portions of the sleeves, the number of stitches in the courses of each shoulder portion is gradually reduced in an outwards direction on the machine, since, in this stage of the knitting, the number of needles used to knit the shoulder portions gradually reduces, it will be appreciated that it is not possible to take down the knitted fabric as the shoulder portions are being knitted, and for this reason the machine should, for example, be provided with sinkers. Alternatively, a machine having a presser foot, for example of the kind described in British Pat. No. 867,678, can be used. When the two shoulder portions have been completed, separate front and rear panels of the upper portion of the body are knitted as flat fabric on opposed beds of the machine, each of these panels linking the shoulder portion of one sleeve with the shoulder portion of the other sleeve. During this stage of the knitting, the number of stitches in each panel of the upper portion of the body is gradually reduced from each edge in an inwards direction on the machine. When a stitch reduction is made at the end of a panel, it will be appreciated that the ad? jacent shoulder portion must be moved inwardly towards the upper body portion by a distance equal to the number of stitches reduced in the upper body portion panels and this movement is in addition to the inward movements of the shoulder portion which are necessary because of the reduction of the number of stitches in successive courses of the shoulder 1 portion. This inward movement of the shoulder portions may be effected by knitting the sleeves on auxiliary beds which are separate from, and slidable with respect to, the beds upon which the body is knitted. When the front and rear panels of the upper body portion have been completed the garment may be cast off or .a final tubular portion may be knitted at the upper end of the body for example to make a roll-neck type garment.

It will, of course, be appreciated that during the knitted procedure outlined above, any desired narrowing or widening of the sleeves and body may be performed by conventional narrowing or needle introduction techniques. It will also be appreciated that short lengths of ribbed fabric may be knitted at the commencement of the sleeves and at the commencement of the body.

By the method according to the invention a complete sleeved garment can be integrally knitted to its final shape so that no seaming is required. If, however, lengths of rib fabric are knitted at the commencement of the sleeves and body, it will be necessary to seam together the edges of the lengths of rib fabric located at the front and back of the garment. These seams will, in the case of the body of the garment, be located at the side edges of the body. The invention includes garments made by the method according to the invention.

The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a diagrammatic view of a sleeved garment, knitted by the method according to the invention,

, FIG. 2 is a series of schematic diagrams of a flatbar knitted machine showing stages in one method of knitting the garment shown in FIG. I, and

FIG. 3 comprises two schematic diagrams of a flat bar knitting machine showing stages in another method of knitting the garment shown in FIG. 1.

The sleeved garment shown in FIG. 1 comprises a body 1 and two sleeves 2, 3. The sleeves 2, 3 comprise shoulder portions 4, 5 which are knitted integrally with an upper portion 6 of the body.

The knitting of the garment shown in FIG. 1 will now be described with reference to FIG. 2. In each of the diagrams of FIG. 2, the reference numerals 10, 11 designate opposed beds of a flat bar knitting machine each comprising a plurality of needles 12. The needles 12 are spaced apart equidistantly in the two beds and it will be understood that the number of needles shown is purely diagrammatic in order to simplify the drawing, and does not in any way relate to the number of needles that would be used in the knitting of the garment of FIG. 1.

In addition to the needle beds and 11, the knitting machine illustrated in FIG. 2 has auxiliary beds I3, 14 and I5, 16 which are separate from but parallel to and slidable longitudinally of the beds 10 and 11 and contain needles 17 and 18 respectively. In FIG. 2 the needles l7 and 18 in opposed beds are shown further apart than needles 12 in opposed beds but the beds l3, l4 and l5, 16 are arranged above or below the beds 10 and 11 in such a way as to bring the needles l7 and 18 in opposed beds into similar relative positions for knitting as needles 12 in opposed beds.

Diagram A of FIG. 2 shows a stage in the knitting of the garment in which the sleeves 2, 3 have been partly knitted from the lower ends of the sleeves as tubular fabric on needles of the beds l3, l4 and l5, 16 respectively. At the same time, the body 1 has been partly knitted as tubular fabric from the lower end on needles of both beds 10, 11. Each of these three tubular fabrics is shown as being knitted with yarn supplied by a single yarn carrier whichis different from the yarn carriers supplying yarn for the knitting of the other two tubular fabrics. Thus, at this stage of knitting, three yarn carriers 21, 22 and 23 are employed.

Tubular knitting may be carried out on many conventional V-bed machines. Methods of knitting tubular fabric on such machines are described, for example, on pages 59 and 60 of the Dubied Manual. Machines equipped with several yarn carriers for knitting several pieces of fabric are well known, as for example, that illustrated on page 31 of the Dubied Manual, and thus it is obviously possible to knit separate tubular portions on the main and auxiliary beds of a modified Dubied DFF-type machine.

Knitting is continued in this way up to the underarm region of the sleeves and body and any necessary widening of the sleeves and body is performed by needle introduction. When the underarm region is reached the knitting of the body 1 is discontinued and knitting of the shoulder portions 4, 5 is performed using reciprocatory knitting and yarn supplied by the two yarn carriers 21 and 23. During knitting of the shoulder portions, needles of the auxiliary beds 13, 14 and l5, 16 are successively put out of action, in each case in the outwards direction on the machine so that the shoulder portions are formed in the shape shown in FIG. 1.

This stage of knitting (shown in diagram B of FIG. 2) results in the formation of pieces of fabric 24, 25 on the beds l3, l4 and pieces of fabric 26, 27 on the beds l5, 16 respectively the pieces of fabric of each pair of being joined only at their edges which are outermost on the machine and in the finished garment. In diagram 8, the knitting of the shoulder portions is shown partly completed. The stitcheson the auxiliary beds 13, 14 and l5, 16 which have just been knitted are shown as circles round the needles, whereas the stitches knitted during previous courses and held on inactive needles are shown as squares around the needles.

When the shoulder portions 4, 5 have been completed, they are joined by knitting fiat fabrics 28, 30 (seediagram C of FIG. 2) forming the front and rear panels of the upper body portion 6 employing yarn supplied by the yarn carrier 22 to bed 10 to knit the flat fabric 28 and employing yarn supplied by a further yarn carrier 29 to knit the other flat fabric 30. The joining of the shoulder portions 4', 5 by the fabrics 28, 30 is effected by transferring the innermost stitches of the shoulder regions toneedles carrying the adjacent stitches of the body or vice versa and then, when knitting the next courses of the fabrics 28 and 30, drawing each end loop of these courses through the associated pair of loops held on the same needle.

During this stage of knitting, shown in diagram C, the shoulder portions are moved progressively inwards as the fabrics 28, 30 are narrowed and the shorter courses of the shoulder portions 4, 5 come to be joined to the fabrics 28, 30.

Only part of the beds 10, 11 and only the auxiliary beds 15, 16 are shown in Diagram C. Thus only the joining of the shoulder portion 5 to the fabrics 28, 30 is illustrated, the joining of the shoulder portion 4 to these fabrics involving an exactly similar series of operations. In Diagram C. the beds 15, 16 have been shogged inwards and the innermost stitches 33 and 34 on these beds have been transferred to the needles I2 carrying the adjacent outermost body stitches 35 and 36. On the next traverse of the yarn carriers 22 and 29, each pair of loops 33, 35 and 34, 36 will be knitted by a single loop of the next course of the respective fabric 28 or 30. The beds l5, 16 will then be shogged inwards again, further stitch transfers will be made, the next courses of the fabrics 28, 30 will be knitted, and so on.

The number of body stitches transferred to auxiliary bed needles carrying stitches of the shoulder portions as compared with transfers of shoulder stitches to body needles depends on the shapes of the upper body portion and the shoulder portions.

If the shapes of the shoulder portions and the upper body portion are such that the auxiliary beds l3, l4 and l5, 16 have to be moved so far inwards during joining of the sleeves to the body that the beds would clash, the remaining stitches on the auxiliary beds can be transferred inwards on the beds at some stage during the joining procedure thus allowing the beds to be moved outwards before the joining procedure is continued. Alternatively, a machine with auxiliary beds have inner end portions which can be removed when the associated needles have cast off their stitches can be used.

Known means can be incorporated in the knitting machine in order to enable the desired stitch transfers to be achieved. These means may comprise fashioning points mounted above the needles so that they can be lowered to pick up loops from needles, move them inwardly and if desired laterally and deposit them on other needles. Alternatively the means may comprise transfer needles which can be raised into engagement with one another in such a way that one needle relinquishes its loop to another.

As an alternative to the knitting procedure described above, the upper body portions can be knitted before the shoulder portions of the sleeves in order to complete the body. The shoulder portions are then knitted in reciprocatory manner on the pairs of auxiliary beds and in such a way as to join them to the front and rear upper body portions. The first stage of knitting a garment in this way is represented by Diagram A of FIG. 2. Diagram D of FIG. 3 illustrates the next stage of knitting a garment by this procedure. The two sleeves 2 and 3 have been completed up to the underarm position and the two fabrics 28 and 30 are being knitted on beds and 11 respectively using yarn from the two yarn carriers 22 and 29. Successive needles 12 are taken out of action from the opposite edges of the body in the inwards direction on the beds 10 and 11 to produce an upper body portion shaped as shown in FIG. 1. In Diagram D, stitches held on inactive needles are shown as squares around the needles whereas stitches which have just been knitted are shown as circles around the needles.

When the upper body portion is complete, the shoulder portions 4 and 5 of the sleeves 2 and 3 are knitted in reciprocatory manner, successive needles of the auxiliary beds being taken out of action in an outwards direction on the machine so that the courses of the shoulder portions become progressively shorter. The shoulder portions are joined to the upper body portions by a stitch transfer technique and subsequent knitting of a single loop through two loops as in the procedure described with reference to FIG. 2. Diagram E of FIG. 3 illustrates the joining procedure for the shoulder portion 5, the procedure for the shoulder portion 4 (not shown) being similar. The outermost stitches 39 and 40 of the body still held on needles have been transferred to needles of the beds 15 and 16 carrying the innermost stitches of the shoulder portion fabrics 26 and 27. In the next reciprocatory course of knitting on h fabrics 26 and 27, the loops at the ends of the course will each be pulled through the two loops held on a common needie.

The joining procedure is carried out following the lines 41 and 42 (see FIG. 1) as in the joining procedure described with reference to FIG. 2, thus producing a raglan style garment. The number of sleeve to body transfers compared with body to sleeve transfers is dependent upon the style line desired at the shoulder, that is on the shapes of the sleeve shoulder portions and the upper body portion.

As a further alternative, the upper body portion and the shoulder portions can be knitted contemporaneously and joining again effected by stitch transfer and knitting of one loop through two.

As a still further alternative, the upper body portion can be completed before the shoulder portions are begun, these portions then being knitted sequentially. This method has the advantage that since the shoulder portions are moved in one at a time there is no difficulty over the possibility of auxiliary beds clashing. In fact, this method can be carried out on a machine having only two auxiliary beds which are long enough to allow both sleeves to be knitted on them preferably at positions clear of the position where the body of the garment is knitted.

The knitting methods described above can be carried out without the use of auxiliary beds by transferring all the stitches of the sleeves inwardly along two opposed main beds of a knitting machine having only two opposed beds.

' As indicated in FIG. 1, a rib border 43 can be knitted at the lower ends of the body and the sleeves. Each rib border is knitted on needles of one bed and an opposite bed of another pair of beds and when the border is completed the loops on needles of the said opposite bed are transferred to empty needles of the said one bed intermediate those already holding loops. After the borders for the front or back of the body and sleeves have been knitted, each of the other borders is knitted on the second bed of the pair of beds including the said one bed and a bed of another pair opposite the said second bed. At the completion of the borders, loops are transferred so that all the loops are on needles of the said second bed and knitting then proceeds for example in accordance with one of the procedures outlined above.

Ifthe garment is knitted on a machine having a single pair of auxiliary beds extending the whole or substantially the whole length of the machine, the simultaneous knitting of three rib border portions, one for each sleeve and one for the body, is facilitated.

When the garment is removed from the knitting machine, the pairs of rib border portions at the front and back of the garment require to be seamed together.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of knitting a sleeved garment on a knitting machine having a pair of opposed beds, the method including the steps of knitting a shoulder portion of each sleeve, in the direction towards the upper end of the sleeve, in reciprocatory manner on opposed beds of the machine so that pieces of the shoulder region on thetwo beds are joined together at an edge of the sleeve which is outennost in the finished garment,

knitting the body of the garment commencing at the lower end, knitting front and rear upper body portions of the garment as flat fabric on different opposed beds of the machine and joining the front and rear upper body portions to the shoulder portions of the sleeve during knitting on the machine.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the joining of the front and rear upper body portions to the shoulder portions is effected by a stitch transfer procedure.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the stitch transfer procedure comprises transferring a-loop of a body portion to a needle carrying a loop of a shoulder portion and knitting the two loops with a single loop of a subsequent course.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sleeves are knitted on pairs of opposed needle beds which are separate from and slidable with respect to the beds upon which the body if knitted.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein during the knitting of each shoulder portion the number of stitches in the courses of the shoulder portion is gradually reduced in an outwards direction on the machine.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein during the knitting of each upper body portion fabric the number of stitches in the courses of the fabric is gradually reduced from each edge in an inwards direction on the machine.

7. A method of knitting a sleeved garment, as hereinbefore defined, on a knitting machine having a pair of opposed beds,

; the method including the steps of knitting a shoulder portion sleeves to the front and rear upper body portions during knitting on the machine.

8. A- method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the joining of the shoulder portions to the front and rear upper body portions is effected by a stitch transfer procedure. I

9. A method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the stitch from and slidable with respect to the beds upon which the body is knitted.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein during the knitting of each shoulder portion the number of stitches in the courses of the shoulder portion is gradually reduced in an outwards direction on the machine.

12. 'A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein during the knitting of each upper body portion fabric the number of 10 stitches in the courses of the fabric is gradually reduced from each edge in an inwards direction of the machine.

Patent NO- 3,636,733 Dated .I

Invent0r(S) Max William Bette, et. a1.

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patentare hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2, cancel lines 1 through 42, and substitute the following: A flat bar V-bed knitting machine having two pairs of needle beds (which we will refer to as "auxiliary beds") mounted so that each pair defines an inverted V shape above the beds which are ordinarily present on a flat bar V-bed machine (which we will refer to as the "main" beds) is manufactured by the aforesaid Edouard Dubied & Cie. This machine, which is known as the Dubied DFF machine, is described in the aforesaid "Dubied Knitting Manual". The DFF machine has auxiliary beds intended for the knitting of narrow selvage strips along the edge of a fabric. Miniature garments (e.g., for dolls) can be knitted on the machine according to the process of the invention, using hand transfer of stitches without increasing the size of the auxiliary beds. The knitting of full size garments necessitates a few rather elementary modifications of the machine. Specifically, the DFF auxiliary beds carry only sufficient needles to knit theloops of a narrow border of a garment, for example, fifteen needles. To provide for manufacture of full size garments the auxiliary beds of the DFF machine are enlarged.

The main beds of the Dubied DFF machine contain needles, each having a slot to receive the hook of an opposite needle so that a loop can be transferred from a slotted needleto the opposite needle. These needles also have a cranked configuration which avoids shogging or racking (i ei; lateral movement) of the beds to obtain the required needle alignment. Providingsuch needles and associated cam means, and selection means for the auxiliary beds similar to those provided on the main beds makes it possible to transfer stitches automatically between the main and auxiliary beds and to take out'of knitting acti needles holding knitted loops whilst retaining those loops on the needles In the DFF machine, the auxiliary beds are pivoted on a transverse bar so thatthev can be swung to lift the needles clea FORM PO-IOSO (IO-69) USCOMM-DC OOS'IG PBQ ".5. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: I969 0-865-334.

UNITED STATES PATENT oTTTcE CERTIFICATE OF (IQRECTWN Patent No. 3,636,733 Dated January 25, 1972 Invent0r(s) Max William Betts, et. al. -02- It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

of the knock-over bits of the main beds during lateral movement. Lateral movement, to effect narrowing, is accomplished by means of a pawl on the cam carriage, and may be carred out to the extent of almost half the length of the main beds, for each pair of auxiliary beds.

It will be understood that the DFF machine and its components are simply exemplary of machines and mechanisms which may be used to practice the invention and that the invention, which is concerned with a method of knitting a garment or substantial part thereof in one integral piece by a new sequence of knitting steps, may be performed on machines of other manufacture.

Signed and sealed this 12th day of December 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOT'ISCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents FORM PC4050 (10-69) uscoMM-oc 60376-P69 lLS. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE I 1969 '-355-33" 

1. A method of knitting a sleeved garment on a knitting machine having a pair of opposed beds, the method including the steps of knitting a shoulder portion of each sleeve, in the direction towards the upper end of the sleeve, in reciprocatory manner on opposed beds of the machine so that pieces of the shoulder region on the two beds are joined together at an edge of the sleeve which is outermost in the finished garment, knitting the body of the garment commencing at the lower end, knitting front and rear upper body portions of the garment as flat fabric on different opposed beds of the machine and joining the front and rear upper body portions to the shoulder portions of the sleeve during knitting on the machine.
 2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the joining of the front and rear upper body portions to the shoulder portions is effected by a stitch transfer procedure.
 3. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the stitch transfer procedure comprises transferring a loop of a body portion to a needle carrying a loop of a shoulder portion and knitting the two loops with a single loop of a subsequent course.
 4. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sleeves are knitted on pairs of opposed needle beds which are separate from and slidable with respect to the beds upon which the body if knitted.
 5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein during the knitting of each shoulder portion the number of stitches in the courses of the shoulder portion is gradually reduced in an outwards direction on the machine.
 6. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein during the knitting of each upper body portion fabric the number of stitches in the courses of the fabric is gradually reduced from each edge in an inwards direction on the machine.
 7. A method of knitting a sleeved garment, as hereinbefore defined, on a knitting machine having a pair of opposed beds, the method including the steps of knitting a shoulder portion of each sleeve in the direction towards the upper end of the sleeve, in reciprocatory manner on opposed beds of the machine so that pieces of the shoulder region on the two beds are joined together at an edge of the sleeve which is outermost in the finished garment, knitting the body of the garment commencing at the lower end, knitting front and rear upper body portions of the garment as flat fabric on different opposed beds of the machine and joining the shoulder portions of the sleeves to the front and rear upper body portions during knitting on the machine.
 8. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the joining of the shoulder portions to the front and rear upper body portions is effected by a stitch transfer procedure.
 9. A method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the stitch transfer procedure comprises transferring a loop of a shoulder portion to a needle carrying a loop of a body portion and knitting the two loops with a single loop of a subsequent course.
 10. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the sleeves are knitted on pairs of opposed needle beds which are separate from and slidable with respect to the beds upon which the body is knitted.
 11. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein during the knitting of each shoulder portion the number of stitches in the courses of the shoulder portion is gradually reduced in an outwards direction on the machine.
 12. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein during the knitting of each upper body portion fabric the number of stitches in the courses of the fabric is gradually reduced from each edge in an inwards direction of the machine. 